Phosphate RX?

[Becca Lane]

Hello, I was wondering if anyone had any luck with the product phosphate rx? I know it’s just a band-aid, and I am solving the core issue by weekly water changes (I was super pregnant so my tank was neglected for 6 months, and yay softies for surviving just top offs!) I do now have a reactor with phosgaurd that I change weekly. (should I switch to gfo?) The reactor didn’t seem to help my phosphate problem. Any luck with Phosphate RX and how do you dose? I have a 12g with a 10g sump. Phosphate is usually around .3.

 

[Tobbe]

then i used it i dosed directly into skimmer cup , can dose it in 5-10 micron filter sock

 

[Becca Lane]

then i used it i dosed directly into skimmer cup , can dose it in 5-10 micron filter sock

How often? Daily?

 

[Tobbe]

no dose it gently to get numbers down slowly read the label as i don't remember how many drops per gallon , and also put som gfo
if you don't get numbers down take a new run after a couple of days but its effective. (not sure about spelling) lanthanum chloride is the active substance in it
so you can easy zero your phosphate so go slow
good luck

 

[EmdeReef]

Never used phosphate RX but used Lanthanum chloride and I’d definitely not use it daily. I used to dose monthly.

What are your phosphates at? 0.3 shouldn’t really be a problem...

 

[Becca Lane]

Never used phosphate RX but used Lanthanum chloride and I’d definitely not use it daily. I used to dose monthly.

What are your phosphates at? 0.3 shouldn’t really be a problem...

Oops I meant .9! I get a lot of algae on the sand and glass. I have astrea snails and a few narcissus snails in the display tank. Tried verity but my electric blue hermit kills them. I tried turbo snails but I have too many zoas and a small tank so he often ran them over. The dosing on the bottle says 6 drops for 10g will lower phosphate by .5, and not to use more than that in a 24 hour period.

 

[Kamden Uelton]

I use it every now and then, works really well but it clouds your water for a few hours.

 

[Becca Lane]

Will a .9 phosphate reading hurt my hammer or w.blasto? They seem okay, I used 6 drops in my filter sock. That’s 10g worth and I probably have 14g total water, but I’ll start slower. I’m tired of all the algae on the sand!!

 

[Thales]

Never used phosphate RX but used Lanthanum chloride and I’d definitely not use it daily. I used to dose monthly.

Why would you not dose Lanthanum chloride daily?

 

[EmdeReef]

Why would you not dose Lanthanum chloride daily?

Every system is different but it can remove phosphates very fast which could have adverse effects on corals. I never saw the need to dose daily...

 

[EmdeReef]

Will a .9 phosphate reading hurt my hammer or w.blasto? They seem okay, I used 6 drops in my filter sock. That’s 10g worth and I probably have 14g total water, but I’ll start slower. I’m tired of all the algae on the sand!!

Maybe try doing half since you have a small system. Always better to make changes slowly.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Every system is different but it can remove phosphates very fast which could have adverse effects on corals. I never saw the need to dose daily...

I suspect the point Thales was getting at was why not dose less but more often to lead to more stability.

 

[EmdeReef]

I suspect the point Thales was getting at was why not dose less but more often to lead to more stability.

Thanks for clarifying.

I only used seaklear when phosphates went over ~0.2 and IME it wasn’t great for maintaining a certain level of phosphates , very likely because I was too impatient to keep adjusting the dose.

Measuring phosphates daily is a chore even with the Hanna checker and if you don’t do that you run the risk of lowering too much. Even though it appears not to harm fish and corals, water clouding does cause visible stress to fish (at least did to my fish). Now I learned clouding can be reduced by diluting LC in RODI and dosing with a doser over several hours...but I wasn’t smart enough to think of that years ago

 

[John3]

I used it to weaken some gha so it would pull off the rocks easily in clumps.

 

[Thales]

Every system is different but it can remove phosphates very fast which could have adverse effects on corals. I never saw the need to dose daily...

Ah. I was keying in to the "definitely". Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Thales]

I suspect the point Thales was getting at was why not dose less but more often to lead to more stability.

Yep - many PAs including mine, dilute LC and then dose it daily for stability and convince.
I am also playing with it at home - Randy, you wouldn't believe my PO4 levels!

 

[Ryan T.L.]

Good discussion though getting off track. No offense to anyone Curious to hear OP’s experience after she dosed Phosphate RX? Anyone else used this particular product?

I recently had a phosphate spike and picked this up from a lfs. The instructions are a bit challenging (6 drops per 10gal lower 1ppm). My phosphates were around 0.4 which I wanted to bring down to 0.2 in a 90g system. I thought if I dosed 1 drop per 10g that I’d end up closer to my goal. I ended up with 0.05 phosphates followed by 0 (Hanna ULR checker which I know could be inaccurate but worked ok so far).

I’ve read about diluting further but curious if there are any threads or articles explaining how to do that? Could be helpful to the OP as well with such a small system. Thanks!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Yep - many PAs including mine, dilute LC and then dose it daily for stability and convince.
I am also playing with it at home - Randy, you wouldn't believe my PO4 levels!

Since I've used your tank as the prime example of a good tank with very high phosphate, it will be very interesting to see what (if anything) you note as it declines!

 

[Thales]

Good discussion though getting off track. No offense to anyone Curious to hear OP’s experience after she dosed Phosphate RX? Anyone else used this particular product?

I recently had a phosphate spike and picked this up from a lfs. The instructions are a bit challenging (6 drops per 10gal lower 1ppm). My phosphates were around 0.4 which I wanted to bring down to 0.2 in a 90g system. I thought if I dosed 1 drop per 10g that I’d end up closer to my goal. I ended up with 0.05 phosphates followed by 0 (Hanna ULR checker which I know could be inaccurate but worked ok so far).

I’ve read about diluting further but curious if there are any threads or articles explaining how to do that? Could be helpful to the OP as well with such a small system. Thanks!

I am not sure what the actual percentage of LC is in that product is so I can’t speak to diluting it. LC can be very potent so it is always best to go slow. There can also be a bounce back effect (which is why I may be more of a fan of constant low dose over bulk intermittent dosing)

 

[Thales]

Since I've used your tank as the prime example of a good tank with very high phosphate, it will be very interesting to see what (if anything) you note as it declines!

Me too Randy! The dr890 is kind of dreamy for testing and I think I have a good and easy way to dose LC. I have to see how it pans out over the next couple months. I hope it makes no difference at all!